Man charged with threatening suburban woman asks for time to consider plea
A Colorado man who authorities say threatened a female relative he accused of mismanaging the family business asked Cook County Judge Bridget Hughes for more time to consider a plea offer, his lawyer Todd Cohen said Wednesday.
Steven Karavidas, 44, is accused of making phone calls to harass the woman, who prosecutors say received 106 threatening and obscene text messages between October 2013 and January 2014.
The woman reported the harassment to Arlington Heights police in November 2013, but asked them not to contact Karavidas because she feared for her safety, prosecutors said during Karavidas' bail hearing earlier this year.
The text messages continued until January 2015, said Cook County assistant state's attorney Maria McCarthy during that hearing.
Beginning in February, authorities say Karavidas made calls to Arlington Heights and McHenry police departments threatening to harm the woman and a male relative. On Feb. 23, someone identifying himself as Steven Karavidas left a message on the Daily Herald's news tip line stating, "I will be on my way to town. I will be killing two people," McCarthy said.
Karavidas was arrested in Grand County, Colo., and extradited to Illinois.
He is in Cook County jail on $1.5 million bail and next appears in court Sept. 23.